Overview
Zed is a code editor written from scratch in Rust by the team behind Atom and Tree-sitter, built on the premise that AI features are worthless if the editor itself feels sluggish. Rendering goes through GPUI, a custom GPU-accelerated UI framework, which delivers sub-millisecond input latency and keeps large files and multi-thousand-file repositories responsive. On top of that foundation sits a full AI layer. The Agent Panel runs multi-file agentic edits with your choice of model, and because Zed implements the Agent Client Protocol you can also drive Claude Code, Codex CLI or Gemini CLI from inside the editor rather than a separate terminal. Edit Prediction, powered by the open Zeta model, offers inline multi-line suggestions as you type. MCP context servers let the agent reach external tools and data sources. The editor ships native LSP support, Tree-sitter syntax handling, vim mode, a built-in terminal, and real-time multiplayer collaboration with shared channels - a feature inherited from the founders’ Atom days that most rivals still lack. Zed is open source under GPL and AGPL licences, and bringing your own provider key removes hosted usage limits entirely. It runs natively on macOS and Linux; Windows builds exist but remain unofficial.
Key Features
- GPUI rendering in Rust for sub-millisecond keystroke latency in large repositories
- Agent Panel for multi-file agentic edits with your choice of underlying model
- Agent Client Protocol support to run Claude Code, Codex CLI or Gemini CLI in-editor
- Edit Prediction inline suggestions powered by the open Zeta model
- MCP context servers for connecting external tools and data to the agent
- Built-in real-time collaboration, shared channels and screen-sharing style pairing
- Native LSP, Tree-sitter, vim mode and integrated terminal, all open source
Pricing
| Plan | Price | For |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $0 | 2,000 accepted edit predictions; unlimited AI with your own API key |
| Pro | $10/mo | Unlimited edit predictions plus $5/mo of hosted model tokens |
| Business | $30/seat/mo | Org-wide model policy, RBAC, data governance, spend visibility |
Comparison
Compared to Cursor, Zed trades ecosystem for speed - Cursor inherits every VS Code extension and has a more polished agent, but costs $20/mo and never feels as fast. Compared to Windsurf, which is also a VS Code fork built around its Cascade agent, Zed is the better pick if you value open source and raw responsiveness over a guided agent workflow. Trae is free and capable but closed source, whereas Zed lets you inspect, fork and self-host the whole editor.